1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wheel hub and brake disc arrangement for heavy vehicles, bolted a hub portion rotatably carried by bearing means on a stub axle, said hub portion presenting a region to which a brake disc is non rotatably affixed, and a disc-shaped carrier affixed to the hub portion via a screw connection, to which carrier a wheel rim is intended to be bolted.
2. Description of Related Art
Disc brakes, which until now have almost without exception only been used on cars and lighter commercial vehicles, have recently been further developed for use in the heaviest category of trucks in which the braking moment can reach 2000 kpm. In the known disc brake type for this class of vehicle the brake disc and the "wheel disc", i.e. the disc-shaped carrier to which the wheel rim is intended to be bolted, is affixed to the wheel hub via a common screw connection. In such a construction, the entire braking moment acts through the screw connection. This implies that the connection must be dimensioned so as to accommodate very large forces. High demands are thus placed on the assembly work during, for example, replacement of brake discs, for example that the correct tightening torque is applied to the common screw connection, in order to eliminate the risk of failure attributable to too great stresses in the connection.
3. Objects and Summary
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wheel hub and brake disc arrangement of the above mentioned type in which the disadvantages of a common screw connection for the brake disc and the disc-shaped carrier can be eliminated.
The present invention relates to a wheel hub and brake disc arrangement for heavy vehicles, comprising a hub portion rotatably carried by bearing means on a stub axle, said hub portion presenting a region to which a brake disc is nonrotatably affixed, and a disc-shaped carrier affixed to the hub portion via a screw connection, to which carrier a wheel rim is intended to be bolted.
This is achieved in accordance with the invention by means of the disc-shaped carrier being integrally formed with a region located radially externally of said screw connection, said region having a non-circular external shaping onto which a brake disc having an opening which presents a corresponding internal shaping is non-rotatably affixed.
By forming an externally shaped disc carrying region integrally with the "wheel disc", an interlocking connection with the brake disc is created in the direction of rotation. The braking moment is thus transmitted through the interlocking connection without having to pass through the screw connection. This implies that the screw connection does not need to be dimensioned to accommodate the very high braking moments which arise during heavy braking of commercial vehicles of the heaviest category.